USB Kill Stick
Full article181 words · extracted from schneier.com · click to collapse
It costs less than $60.
For just a few bucks, you can pick up a USB stick that destroys almost anything that it’s plugged into. Laptops, PCs, televisions, photo booths—you name it.
Once a proof-of-concept, the pocket-sized USB stick now fits in any security tester’s repertoire of tools and hacks, says the Hong Kong-based company that developed it. It works like this: when the USB Kill stick is plugged in, it rapidly charges its capacitors from the USB power supply, and then discharges—all in the matter of seconds.
On unprotected equipment, the device’s makers say it will “instantly and permanently disable unprotected hardware”.
You might be forgiven for thinking, “Well, why exactly?” The lesson here is simple enough. If a device has an exposed USB port—such as a copy machine or even an airline entertainment system—it can be used and abused, not just by a hacker or malicious actor, but also electrical attacks.
Slashdot thread.
Sidebar photo of Bruce Schneier by Joe MacInnis.
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